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Tardiness is the #1 complaint against Alpena Kitchen And Bath Remodelers

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Over 1,188 reviews forAlpena Kitchen And Bath Remodelers from people just like you.

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"He did a great job. Was friendly and efficient. There were several areas where the exterior wood trim was showing wood rot. He replaced several rotting planks" ...More and covered other areas with flashing. I had left over paint that he used to match exterior color.

-Gerald M.

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"Design suggestions were excellent. Timing and cost to do work require us to postpone making any changes until summer.

Your kitchen is arguably the most important room in your home. It should be attractive, stylish, comfortable and functional. Remodeling a kitchen can dramatically enhance the appeal of your home to potential buyers.

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Angie's Answers

"You want to deal with a professional person that is selling you a bath that was not working as a cashier a few months ago."

Do you go to the gracery store and ask for someone to cook your steak? Of course not. So why would you go to a building supply store and ask for someone to remodel your bathroom? Rarely will you see a legitimate contractor take jobs from a retailer. Why? Because they don't pay much. Speed is the most important thing to them, along with getting it done cheap so they can maximize profit. About 10 years ago I worked on a few contracted structures (sheds, garages, etc.) from Home Depot. They contracted to another company who then contracted people to build them. At that time they paid a flat $250 for a contractor to pick up the supplies, build the structure on site, paint it, and use their own tools. By the time the cost of a helper, fuel, tools, etc. was factored in there was nothing left for the contractor. Anyway, the point I'm making is that the guy who will eventually show up to do the work will be so far down the line that everyone else has already taken the profits (Home Depot, ReBath, possibly someone else, and finally the guy working) that he probably isn't going to care what kind of job he does for you, quality or not. He likely won't have much experience due to a high turnover rate and any experience he does have will probably be limited to his teachings at that job. He probably can't answer any building code questions or identify other hazards once things are taken apart and he certainly won't do anything he doesn't have to while it is apart.

Another problem I've heard of repeatedly is that if (when) there is a problem there is always someone else you need to speak to. You might have to talk to 4 or 5 different people before you can even get to someone that can address the problem. Now multiply that due to having (at least) two separate companies involoved. "You need to call ReBath." "No, you need to call Home Depot."

You hire a general contractor for a reason. We learn, understand, and keep up on building codes. We are the one point of contact for all questions and issues on a project. There is no manager in some other store, state, etc. to call. You contract a GC and deal directly with that GC, or a site supervisor in some cases. There isn't a huge chain of command to get through to reach the main decision maker for the business. In a bathroom remodel you need someone who can do the plumbing, repair and/or move any electrical, install tile/flooring, drywall and paint, trim carpentry, and someone to coordinate all of that. Sometimes you can find a qualified contractor to do all of those things and sometimes he will sub-contract out certain components (especially due to licensing laws) but you will always have that one definitive person to go to for any questions or issues. A salesman in a store doesn't visit your home throughout the project to check on the status. Even if he did, he likely wouldn't now what he is looking at. The same goes for a retail manager.

Hire someone who specializes in taking care of your home. Hire based on reputation & knowledge/experience. You are right that not every customer can be happy so an occassional bad review can be found on just about any business. Read the reviews, not the grades (they are always biased). Look to see if the contractor attempted to rectify the problem, not ignore it. Lastly, unless you want cheap, sloppy work and a whole heap of other troubles, don't hire based on a low price.

Hair spray is one of those things that is really bothersome. We've run into this alot unfortunately. And NOTHING we've found will actually clean it off. The problem is that if you just paint over it, you still see shiny spots wherever the hairspray was.

Our companie's policy is to prime the area with any bonding primer. This will seal the hairspray in and not let it affect the next coat of paint. It would also be a good idea to lightly sand the area first.

Our recommendation for primer would be Zinsser's BIN Spray (red can) and can be bought at most paint stores or home improvement stores. Other than that, any thing that specifically says "bonding" for a primer should be adequate enough.

What I always ask my customers regarding this question when remodeling bathrooms is how good they will be about maintaining and cleaning the new bathroom, especially when the old bathroom is obviously neglected. If you are one of those people who wipes the glass down after a shower and cleans your bathroom every week or two you really don't need to spend the extra money. If you are at the other end of the spectrum and clean it when it finally bothers you enough it may not be a bad investment. I've had customer tell me they can tell a difference compared to their old glass without it and others say it made no difference at all.

Your basic rights and protections under law are probably outlined by your state and city's laws. In most states, the easiest way to look up your basic rights and privelges as a consumer would be to visit your state's attorney general website - you can usually find lots of great tips to protect yourself as a consumer there, too. Here's the National Association of Attorneys General's national listing, which includes a link to each state's attorney general website: http://www.naag.org/current-attorneys-general.php

Beyond those basic rights under the law, your expectations of a contractor during, on and after the completion of a job should be explicitly outlined in the estimate and contract. Although it can be a pain in the butt, ALWAYS read the estimate and/or contract before sign it! I cannot stress this enough - frequently the cause of someone's negative experiences with a contractor can be traced back to too few details in the contract.

We've covered contracts, and what you should expect to see in them, here: http://www.angieslist.com/contractor/signing-a-contract.htm

Remodeling reviews in Alpena

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Rating

“

I highly recommend Re-Bath for bathroom remodels. They were truly a "one stop shop" and handled all the parts & permits of redoing a bathroom. They provided the design, materials, and installation. Once everything was in hand they began work. They worked to completion - no breaks, halts, or stops.
J.R.,

were outstanding. They were experienced, very friendly and highly competent. They had a "can-do" & truly refreshing customer service attitude.

and

our daily crew were excellent; their workmanship was highly detailed & well done. They kept the dust / dirt confined to the work area and cleaned up after every work day.
Communication between all parties was very good, and the selection of materials large & of good quality. We had a positive experience with Re-Bath and would recommend them again and again.

Thanks Re-Bath -

&

J. Sunnyvale, CA”

- Ward J.

A

Rating

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THE WORKMAN, RUS, SHOWED UP ON TIME EACH DAY , WOKED HARD ALL DAY, CLEANED UP AFTER HIMSELF AND RESPECTED MY HOME. I GAVE HIM MY KEYS AND WENT TO WORK. TWO BATHS IN FOUR DAYS. THEY ARE BEAUTIFUL..”

- Rebekah G.

B

Rating

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Very fair price, Scheduling got a bit confusing because I called and so did the tenant. But the company fixed the confusion and everything got done well and on time. The problem was that one of the workers spent half an hour telling me about his hellfire and damnation religion.”

- NICK F.

A

Rating

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I looked for the perfect company for this remodel project for our dream kitchen. with the intention of eventually selling out the house to be much better price. Ari was excellent in presenting different layouts, all with the cost effectiveness in mind. In the end, I got a design that was far better than I could have anticipated. Now the kitchen is beautiful ...More and laid out with much better functional ease, which is important for a fair space. I may not rent/sell the place now that I love the kitchen so much! Also, Ari was so easy to work with and trust, and as someone who is busy and wanted things moving quickly and efficiently, he was more than accommodating; and he comes to you which is so convenient. In the kitchen we did new design and layout Ari help us with this show us 3D design didn't charge us for this, windows install first floor we used his price for windows ad saved around 15%, the lights we got nice deal Ari also help us get it online in one of the places he found for us, plumbing was total upgrade and electrical as well, Of course we took Ari cabinets and he make them perfect special for our needs.
Note: We talk about 6-8 weeks to make the cabinets he finish in 6 weeks very nice, then he said the whole work will take is 2.5 months included all work done! this was 2 good to be true but he made this happen in 2 months. He just start work on the cabinets same time he start the work and by the time cabinets came he had 2 weeks to do countertop and tile and all the touchups.
Thank you for a wonderful design and amazing work.”

- Ben A.

A

Rating

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Rod returned my call within minutes and came by the house the next day to give me an estimate. He did a thorough inspection of the shower floor, took pictures and measured. I was impressed to receive two itemized estimates later that night... he gave me two options. 1) replace just the floor - if upon demo it turned out that the rubber liner and ...More drain were intact OR 2) redo both the floors and walls of the shower if the liner was torn and had to be replaced. We just didn't know what he would find once the old floor was out and he wanted to make sure I was prepared for either option so there were no surprises.
After looking over the estimates, I decided to go ahead with Rod, but did the demo myself to save a little $$. Rod was fine with that and came by a few days later to finish the job. We got lucky and were able to replace just the floor, so the whole thing ended up costing me $500 as opposed to $2900 (THANKS ROD!!)
On

recommendation, I picked up my tile & accent tile at Floor & Decor. Rod did a great job installing and was OK with me micro-managing how I wanted them spaced. I know I can be fussy, but he was ok making a few minor adjustments that I suggested.
The floor came out great and I am very pleased with the way it looks and the overall cost.”

- Richard S.

A

Rating

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An outstanding job by a truly professional contractor. All aspects of the job were effectively planned, coordinated and executed with hight degree of quality. A majority of the work ( and administrative component) had to managed remotely and contractor did nice job handling the communications in a timely fashion and keeping the owner up to date throughout ...More the project.
Overall, we were extremely pleased with the end result. ”

- James S.

A

Rating

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They started the job on a Monday and worked continuously until they finished it on Thursday. They were professional, prompt, the job looks great and totally cleaned up each night so we could use the bath each night even during construction project. We had one minor problem, a scratch on one of the shower doors. We called them, they ordered a new door ...More and set an appointment in two days to replace the scratched door.”

- Robert B.

A

Rating

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The entire process went very well. I connected TPT based on the overall reviews from Angie's list; candidly i connected three contractors. TPT provided the price closest to my budget, offered more flexible financing and made the beginning process very smooth.

came out to the house the first time and we discussed ideas, ...More he took measurements, etc. Within a few days we had a quote and within a week we decided to go with TPT.

came back out and spent about 3 hours going over the products, choices and answered all of our questions. This was our first bathroom remodel. It took approx. 3 weeks for everything to be completed; excluding the glass to the shower door that came from a third party that TPT recommended. Understanding that the glass for the MB would be the last thing and take a few more weeks. Godo was the crew leader and they were at my house exactly at 7AM everyday. Not 7:05, 7:00AM ... that was impressive. They communicated with me the entire way - any questions, issues, etc. Very professional and the crew did a very good job. TPT was cheaper than the other contractors we spoke too; but the others had sales people, design people, etc. etc. and wanted to sell us more of a custom bathroom. TPT came in with really good product offerings and we had the ability to purchase products on our own if we liked something that TPT didn't offer. Overall, excellent job and would definitely recommend to friends and use them again,